A Feeling of Absolution
by nevereatdirt
Summary: Your name is Kankri Vantas and you have been with your matesprit now for two and a half sweeps. This past half sweep has been stressful, but things are starting to look up now.


When you were younger you would never have thought that you'd be where you are today. You're cooking dinner in your hive. It's not _just_ your hive anymore though. In fact it's never been just _your_ hive. You and your matesprit had picked it when you'd decided to move in together a few sweeps past. You can't say you're unhappy, though the swelling in your calves has been strenuous on you and the sleepless night and now these _darn cramps_ have started to get to you. You're deeply flushed for him, and he for you. You hear the door to the open and there he is. Running inside like an excited wiggler.

He wraps his arms around you from behind and presses a kiss to your neck. "And how's the best expecting daddy in the world doing tonight?"

You smile. "I'm fine, Cronus."

"You feeling anything strange, babe?" His tone is worried as always. Ever since you'd gotten the news that you were expecting he's been simply riddled with so much worry for both you and the coming grubs.

"I told you, love, I'm fine." You turn in his arms as best as you can with your swollen belly and give him a kiss.

He leans into it happily, a soft purr emitting from his throat. When he pulls back, he's smiling at you fondly. "I still can't fucking believe we're doing this. That this is like a thing that's real at all."

You laugh and pull out of his arms to continue cooking. "I can believe it. Perhaps it simply feels unreal to you due to the fact that you _aren't_ heavily pregnant." You turn and give him a look he's all too familiar with and then stir your pasta into the sauce.

He shrugs, biting his lip. "Maybe... Oh! I totally got some more stuff for them while I was out! You wanna see it?" He's grinning so brightly that you just can't bring yourself to say no to him. You nod and, before you can even articulate an answer, he's running out and then back in.

He lays out the bags one at a time and explains what each thing is and why he thought it would be so perfect. As he explains you finish the pasta and serve it up. You know how much of it he'll eat better than he does, so you give him his bowl and a fork then go to sit down in the recreation block. But he puts a hand on your shoulder. "You aren't gonna eat at the table?"

"Don't be silly I can barely see my toes how am I going to sit properly?" You waddle your way to the block and he follows after you, sitting himself close to you and smiling.

"Never thought you'd eat in the living room babe."

You scrunch your nose. "I would appreciate it if you didn't use your royal language, Cronus. It could be quite triggering to some."

He laughs through a mouthful of food. "Yeah babe I'll try not to do that."

The two of you eat and listen to the Imperial Radio. The musical selections had always been fascinating to you. From the time you'd been culled to now you've had to wonder how it was that the station was so... "I'll be back." You stand up as much as you can and set your bowl on the end table before going to the ablution block. Much like every day for the past perigee, you've found yourself using the load gaper more than you'd like.

Cronus follows after you. "Babe? You okay?"

You laugh. "Cronus I'm _fine_. I just need to go to the ablution block."

He bites at his lip. "Okay fine."

You keep walking but you hear a faint pop. You stop, looking around to see if there's anything in the room that could have caused it, but then you feel liquid running down your legs. You look down and before you know what's happening, Cronus is shouting. "Babe! What the fuck, are you okay? Is that... Is that fucking _blood_? Come on, we're fucking going to the hospital _now_." He picks you up, which you're amazed he can still do, and he runs with you and the bag you've kept prepared for this moment out to your transportation drone.

Before long he's taken you to the hospital, fussing the whole way there and trying to figure out what's wrong. You try to assure him that it's _not_ blood, but he isn't listening. You feel another cramp coming on as he takes you into the hospital and gets you checked in.

Everything is a blur. There are doctors everywhere and you're just trying to figure out what's happened.

And that's when you realize that you're in labor. And you've _been_ in labor. Those cramps... You're mentally kicking yourself as another contraction comes and this time you're screaming. Cronus is there with you, holding you and kissing you and trying to get you to calm down, but nothing is working.

Admittedly, this is not how you thought tonight would go when you woke up this evening.

After what feels like an eternity the only word that registers is push and so you do. Cronus breaths with you, and his presence has managed so far to keep you calm as can be right now. But the word _push_ keeps echoing in your head and you keep listening to it for as long as they tell you to and then you hear a tiny sound. It's faint at first, but distinct. A small scree. You smile at the noise but the pain happens again.

_Twins_.

You push when you're told until the second wiggler arrives and you're left in a shuddering heap. Your whole body is aching, but at the same time you're happier than you've been in sweeps. They ask if you want to hold them and of course you nod, eagerly. You hold your wigglers to your chest and smile up at Cronus, who's grinning from ear to ear.

He reaches out and touches a fin on your new violet-blooded son and just looks at you hold them. "Eridan?"

"And Karkat."

You smile. You'd agreed on the names early on and now, with them here, everything is so real. The grubs purr as they sleep. Karkat has your warmth, and Eridan has Cronus's chill.

Cronus lays down next to you on the bed and puts one hand on your stomach as he watches your descendants sleeping. In your eleven sweeps you've never had a more perfect moment than this. At least until Cronus pulls closer to you and nuzzles against your face to give you a soft kiss.

The two of you lay together with your boys, falling into a deep sleep and knowing that your life as fathers had just begun.


End file.
